‘Bottles for Change’ Campaign Conducted in Five Rupnagar Schools to Promote Plastic Waste Management

Rupnagar, September 26, 2026: Taking an important step towards environmental protection and plastic waste management, the Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA), in collaboration with the District Education Officer’s Office, Rupnagar, conducted a joint programme under the ‘Bottles for Change’ campaign in five schools of Rupnagar district.

The programme was conducted under the able guidance of District Education Officer (DEO) Mr. Prem Kumar Mittal and Deputy District Education Officer (Dy. DEO) Mr. Inderjit Singh, Rupnagar.

The CSR-based initiative aims to educate school students about segregation of plastic waste at source and encourage them to hand over segregated plastic waste to IPCA for recycling. The programme seeks to address plastic pollution at the grassroots level while developing responsible waste-management habits among students.

Under the campaign, students are being sensitised about the identification, segregation and collection of plastic waste in their schools and surrounding areas. The segregated waste is subsequently handed over through designated collection channels established by IPCA for scientific recycling.

The initiative also focuses on developing long-term habits of responsible waste segregation among the younger generation and reducing the quantity of plastic waste entering the environment.

The District Education Officer’s Office, Rupnagar, extended administrative support to the campaign by issuing a formal communication to schools across the district and encouraging them to actively participate in the awareness and waste-segregation drive. The support helped facilitate wider participation of schools and effective implementation of the programme at the grassroots level.

IPCA expressed its appreciation and gratitude to Sukhjit Singh Kanth, District Coordinator, Rupnagar (State Awardee), and Foran Chand for their excellent coordination, dedication and efforts in motivating schools and students to participate in the campaign. The entire IPCA team was also appreciated for its dedicated efforts in planning and implementing the programme.

IPCA also thanked the heads of the participating schools for leading the campaign in their respective institutions. These included Sandeep Kaur, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Rupnagar; Sangeeta, Principal, DAV School, Rupnagar; Davinder Kaur, In-charge, School of Eminence (SOE), Rupnagar; Sonia, Headmistress, Government High School, Kotla Nihang; and Kuldeep Dhaliwal, In-charge, Government Senior Secondary School, Mianpur.

The members of the District Environmental Education Team, including Kulwant Singh Bhakku Majra, Vivek Kumar and Sukhjit Singh, were also appreciated for their guidance and support in taking the campaign forward.

Special appreciation was also extended to the Eco Club In-charges who played an important role in ensuring active participation of students, including Japinder Kaur, Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Rupnagar; Poonam, School of Eminence (SOE), Rupnagar; and Kavita Verma, Government Senior Secondary School, Mianpur.

The campaign was conducted on September 26, 2026, in the following five schools of Rupnagar district:

1. Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Rupnagar
2. School of Eminence (SOE), Rupnagar
3. DAV School, Rupnagar
4. Government School, Kotla Nihang
5. Government Senior Secondary School, Mianpur

Through the campaign, IPCA and the District Education Office aim to encourage schools across Rupnagar to work towards becoming plastic-waste-free institutions. Besides the immediate collection and recycling of plastic waste, the initiative seeks to develop responsible citizens who take responsibility for the waste generated by them and adopt source-level waste segregation as a regular habit both at school and at home.

The ‘Bottles for Change’ campaign is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative being expanded by IPCA across Punjab, including Patiala, Rupnagar and Nabha, with the objective of promoting a cleaner and more plastic-responsible future through school-based awareness and structured plastic waste collection.

For further information about the campaign, schools and stakeholders may contact the concerned Block Coordinators or the IPCA office.